Portable door fastener



-Aug. 27, 1957 JQB. FRANKLIN PORTABLE DOOR FASTENER Fi led 1 1. 15, 1954INVENTOR 4 thaw; B. Frail/Him ATTORNEY PORTABLE DOOR FASTENER Joseph B.Franklin, Alexandria, Va. Application February 15, 1954, Serial No.410,368

4 Claims. (Cl. 292-292) This invention relates to a portable doorfastener and has for its object the provision of a device which may becarried about by the owner from place to place and readily accessible touse as a positive means for securing a door against any unauthorizedentrance.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed having means for readily adjusting the device to doors anddoor jambs of various thicknesses.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device that once adjustedto a door will hold the door in secure locked position to the door jamb.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device that is simple inconstruction, with a minimum of parts and eflicient to operate.

It is finally an object of my invention to provide a removable doorsecuring device that can be used to securely lock from the inside, adoor that is equipped with the usual mortise lock which can be easilyunlocked by a pass key or a suitable door key.

With this and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my portable door fastener complete.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the portable door fastener showingposition of the device when applied to the recessed mortise of a doorjamb.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 2 showing theposition of the bolt member when the device is in locked position in adoor jamb.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing thedevice in locked position and its relation to a door and a door jamb.

In the drawings, reference character 4 denotes a portion of a door andthe reference character 6 denotes a portion of a door jamb having arecess or mortise 8 and a striker plate 10 to receive a latch boltcontained in a door.

Referring more particularly to my improved portable door fastener,numeral 12 denotes a plate member having a lug member 14 secured to oneend thereof and on the opposite end, an aperture 16 in which to attach achain 18, the opposite end of said chain being attached to a bolt member26 for the purpose of securing same from loss or misplacement. The platemember 12 is formed with an inclined portion 19 extending upward andmerging with a horizontal portion 20 (note Figs. 1 and 2), saidhorizontal portion providing a holding means when the device is placedbetween the door and door jamb. In the inclined portion of the angularplate 12, I provide a plurality of apertures 22, said apertures beingspaced approximately equidistant from each other in an upward diagonalcourse, said apertures also being progressively spaced a predetermineddistance from the lug member 14 as shown at line A-A in Figure 1 of thedrawings.

nited States Patent p 2,804,332 Patented Aug. 27, 1957 While theapertures 22 are shown as being square, any suitable shape, preferablypolygonal, may be adopted. Line A-A in Figure l of the drawingsindicates the contact point of the lug member 14 with the vertical sidewall of the recess 8 in the door jamb. The progressive spacing of theapertures 22 wherein each aperture is spaced a predetermined distancefrom the inner face of the lug member 14, provides the operator with achoice in selecting the desired aperture in which to insert the boltmember 26, thus compensating for the varying thicknesses of doors, itbeing important to place the bolt member 26 as close to the face of thedoor as possible to obtain a positive locking position of the device.

The apertures 22 are formed by punching out the metal in plate 12,preferably in the form of squares, each of the horizontal edges of saidsquare apertures being formed with a bevel 24 to cause the bolt member26 to be held in a downwardly inclined position to prevent said boltmember from jarring out of the selected square aperture while engaged inthe locking position of the device. The above described constructionprovides apertures 22 having axes downwardly inclined to the plane ofthe plate 12.

Bolt member 26, at one end, is provided with a hole 28 in which toattach the opposite end of chain 18. A shoulder member 30 is formed onsaid bolt member 26 and is inclined to the longitudinal axis thereof toprovide a stop means when said bolt member is inserted in aperture 22. Areduced portion 31 is provided between the shoulder 30 and the outer endof said bolt member, and is square in cross section to fit snugly in anaperture 22. The shoulder member prevents the bolt member from enteringthe square aperture too far to reduce the area of contact of the boltmember with the door.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have designed acomparatively simple and practical device that Will positively secure adoor from unauthorized entrance,

that can be readily applied and removed from a door jamb without damageto the door or the door jamb. The angular plate member 12 being made upfrom light gauge steel plate, can readily be fitted into the space foundbetween the average door and door jamb without forcing or crowding thedevice. The plate member 12 is positioned when in operation, parallel tothe direction of external pressure from the door when unauthorizedentrance is attempted, therefore it will be obvious that the device canbe of light steel construction and stand the maximum pressure or endthrust put upon it without rupture or breaking down. Its freedom fromcomplicated parts and simplicity of design provides a device that isinexpensive to manufacture and practical and efficient to use. With thesquare apertures 22 being spaced a predetermined distance in aprogressive arrangement, it will be obvious that the device is capableof adjustment to fit doors and door jambs of varying thicknesses andthat a minimum number of square apertures with their graduated spacingfrom the lug member'14 will provide a wide latitude to cover allconditions found relative to the variation in door thicknesses in commonuse. However, more apertures may be employed if found necessary. Thesquare apertures 22 are positioned in the plate member 12 so that thelower most aperture of the group will clear the striker plate 8 in thedoor jamb, as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. This clearance permitsthe reduced end 31 of the bolt member 26 to project through saidaperture a sufficient distance to provide ample holding means for saidbolt member when same is engaged in operating position against a door.It will be noted that the projecting end of said bolt member, when in aninclined position in an aperture, is designed to present a planeparallel to said plate member and the edge of the stile of a door frame,thereby permitting maximum engagement of said bolt member with saidplate member when utilized in door frames with limited space to operatesaid bolt member.

Throughout this specification and claims, reference to directions, asdownward, upward, horizontal or vertical are as they would appear inconnection with an ordinary door having a vertical slide andcorresponding jamb. Reference to outwardly relates to away from thedoor.

It will be obvious that various minor changes may be made in theproportions, shape and arrangement of the parts without departure fromthe spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described this invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination in a portable 'door fastener of a plate member, a lugmember integral with one end of said plate member and adapted to beinserted in a recess in a door jamb, a plurality of spaced apertures insaid plate, each aperture having anaxis in a plane normal to the planeof the plate member, and said axes being inclined downwardly relative tothe plane of the plate member, a bolt member connected by a chain to theend of said plate member opposite said lug member, said bolt memberhaving at its free end a reduced portion adapted to be insertedcrosswise in one of said spaced apertures, a shoulder means formedadjacent the free end of said bolt member adapted to engage the face ofsaid plate member to limit the insertion of said bolt member into one ofsaid apertures, said bolt member being adapted to hold said plate memberin locking position relative to the in ail upwardly and outwardlydirection whereby each such aperture is progressively spaced verticallyand horizontally relative to the next preceding aperture, each aperturebeing spaced a predetermined distance from said lug member, toaccommodate doors of different thicknesses.

3. Thesubject matter is claimed in claim 1 wherein the spaced aperturesare rectangular having parallel horizontal and vertical sides, andwherein their horizontal sides are bevelled in downwardly directionsubstantially parallel to the inclination of the axis of said openings,whereby said bolt member will be maintained in a downt wardly inclinedposition when in operative position in References Cited in the'file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 588,619 Sullivan Aug. 24, 1897 663,036Mitchell Dec. 4, 1900 735,962 Gartz Aug. 11, 1903 771,588 Taylor et a1.Oct. 4, 1904 1,318,987

Good Oct. 14, 1919

